


How To Fall In Love With Your Bestfriends Without Ruining Everything

by crostiina



Category: Raven Cycle - Maggie Stiefvater
Genre: Alternate Universe - Non-Magical, Friends to Lovers, Multi, Mutual Pining, Polyamory, Polyship Roadtrip
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-03-31
Updated: 2020-03-31
Packaged: 2021-02-28 23:34:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,775
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23415385
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/crostiina/pseuds/crostiina
Summary: They both ran after her, laughing along the way, Gansey holding his chest in a way that made Henry’s tighten a bit, but it was okay.It was eerily perfect, the way they all settled in a booth, smoothly picking their seats even if they weren't used to sit into a group of three but many more. It was like the three of them formed something by themselves, and they could pretend like they weren't and that trip was nothing more than a coincidence, but they all had to know somehow.-Henry makes the mistake of thinking that going on a trip with the two people he's in love with is a good idea, even if they're dating and he's miserable.Weird thing is, he might actually be right.[part of a multimedia collab with clawsanbeak and shamanda-lie]
Relationships: Henry Cheng/Richard Gansey III/Blue Sargent
Comments: 3
Kudos: 29





	How To Fall In Love With Your Bestfriends Without Ruining Everything

**Author's Note:**

> this is part of a collab with [shamanda-lie](https://shamanda-lie.tumblr.com/post/614136639462227968/road-to-sarchengsey-pt-1-a-project-in) and [clawsnbeak](https://clawsnbeak.tumblr.com/post/614136689339875328/how-to-fall-in-love-with-your-best-friends-without), so make sure to check out the other parts!

  
  
  


The first thing one noticed about Richard Campell Gansey The Third was his belt. He had a weird, specifically dad-like way of wearing belts that had somewhat caught his attention early on. To put it shortly, it was impeccable: good leather over well-tailored light chinos, everything with a flattering fit and the finishing touch of a bright or sensibly colored polo flawlessly tucked under it. Nothing flashy or weird or different from what someone's dad would wear on a mildly warm barbecue. Not that weird, after all. It was _Gansey_ that made it weird by wearing it, the same way everything about him was made weird by the fact that it was about him. Calling a classmate by surname was douchy, but normal, yet something about _Gansey_ ringed differently from _Cheng_ or _Sargent_ or literally any other name, it felt like a brand, a legacy, a thing that was supposed to be remembered. And everything about Gansey kind of felt that way, like it was supposed to mean something, as if Gansey himself wasn't just a teenager freshly graduated from high school but and entity, timeless, special. That was the right word and, to be fair, that's what Henry actually meant when he thought about the stupid yet peculiar detail of Gansey's belt, because you couldn't really notice a part of him without noticing all of him, like your eyes and your mind and something in your stomach couldn't help but ask for more as soon as they'd got a taste of him. 

But maybe that was just him being him, and he wasn't exactly like anyone else. It was kind of Henry's thing, not being like anyone else, in a good or a bad way that was, so one couldn't really trust his judgment about what people generally thought. But if actually he were to try, and step in somebody else's less fashionable shoes, he'd say that the first thing that caught your attention about Gansey was his mouth. He had the lips of a greek statue, full, well-defined, sitting perfectly in the nice frame of his face like someone had carefully chosen the exact position to make them heartstopping. But it wasn't even about the mouth himself, it was about how expressive it made him, how warm the curve of his smile could be, how punctuated his frown, how lovely the way it scrunched up in a funny shape when he was pensive or confused. 

That was exactly how it looked at that moment, as Gansey himself stood still in front of two brightly colored packets, his brows furrowed as if he was weighing down matters of life or death, a dimple making itself be seen only on one cheek. For a short, flashy and weird moment, Henry thought that had to be the most perfect spot for a kiss. He folded that thought and tucked it somewhere hidden deep down his chest.

Gansey took a deep breath, then raised an eyebrow.

“I just don’t think this is the right choice. See, I-”

"They're peanuts, Gansey. What could possibly be wrong about them?"

Blue Sargent, not-many-feet tall in second-hand clogs, looked exactly as pissed as one could look in a dress made from something very purple unwillingly sewed together with very flashy patterns - which was a lot. Not very promising, since the journey had just begun, but he trusted Gansey to make amends soon enough.

Henry couldn't refrain himself from smiling a little, looking at the whole might of her, impossibly bright dark eyes and a face that had the absolutely inhumane power of actually surpass someone's soul. It was in a nice way, that had nothing to do with fear or uneasiness or anything even remotely bad. It was just about her _feeling_ everything in a way so intense and overwhelming that it ended up making its way into your stomach, even if you strongly disagreed. It was there, it was powerful and there was absolutely nothing you could do about it. It was, also, kind of intoxicating.

Gansey probably felt it too, Henry could see it right into his eyes as he slightly lowered his shoulders, not exactly in defeat but reaching a sort of negotiating point. She was very right, this time, they were just peanuts, but frankly, neither of them was actually good at backing down from the stupidest point. He found it charming.

“They’re salted, Jane. You’ll get thirsty and it’s going to be a long ride before the next stop.”

“Then I’ll buy water, just like I’m gonna buy these damn peanuts.”

"It's ninety-six degrees, it's going to get warm as soon as you put it in the car."

“I don’t think I’m gonna die from drinking warm water, Gansey.”

Watching them argue was _extremely_ entertaining for various reasons. It was always the fight of the century, lower-class liberal with left-leaning but not always politically correct rich pupil, determined and short-tempered small woman with calm and passive-aggressive man, unstoppable force with irremovable object. It happened so often that Henry had already seen something like that two times since they'd left Henrietta that morning, over the smallest of things. It was probably supposed to be annoying like every couple fighting was, yet he couldn't help but finding it somewhat cute. Maybe because he knew a thing or two about cold silences and how worse they were than hot but shortlived fights. Or maybe because there was something impossibly warm about two people so well intertwined into one another that could handle conflict without it being stained in fear, that could burn hot without turning mean, in the closest thing to real-life sitcom bickering that was possible.

He watched Gansey inhale profoundly and then exhale, trying to gather some kind of calm while his eyebrows clearly spoke about how deeply futile he found that entire discourse. Which was funny, because he had been the one to start it and still refused to just back down.

“I’m not saying that it will kill you, but it might be _unpleasant_.”

“You’re unpleasant!”

“And you’re unreasonable, Jane.”

“They’re just peanuts, Gansey!”

“I know! You’re the one getting upset about it!”

Which meant she probably wasn’t, but that she was also persisting in her argument instead of just buying the infamous peanuts out of pure spite.

“I am _not_ upset!”

Which meant she absolutely was, now. Her posture immediately tensed, her arms crossing and her shoulders lifting all in one, in sync with _not_ as if they weren’t actually canceling it out.

She furrowed her eyebrows, spending a couple of seconds that probably corresponded to ten hours of overthinking staring at him, throwing her arms down, unclenching and then clenching her fists and then opening and closing her mouth. Probably, she was thinking about something else to say, something that could get Gansey also fired up, because it was kind of unfair she was the only one getting all bothered in a supermarket in the middle of a highway. And, probably, she concluded that, from the outside, just meant she was just too nice and to actually go through with her intent of purposefully getting her boyfriend upset just for the hell of it. Which was why, probably, she ended up feeling guilty enough - but still too stubborn to sort anything out - that her only coping mechanism was just sighing loudly and turning her back to both of them to stomp towards the opposite side of the store.

He thought that Gansey, at that point, would be struck by her reaction hard enough to realize how pointless all of that had been, but he hadn’t. He was standing still in front of him, staring blankly at a wall, probably wandering weather he was supposed to feel guilty for his actions or actually angry for the response they’ve gotten. Basically in the exact same spot as the other side of the argument, probably equally blindsided. 

They did it often, getting stuck over the smallest things was just in their nature. Sometimes, Henry could picture with exact precisions the cogs of their minds getting stuck, running over the same details again and again, unable to run smoothly. In those moments, he just wished he could delicately slide between them, to take the friction off where it made thinking harder and sort the mass of their words that often got tangled without them even realizing. It would have been so easy that sometimes it hurt, just a bit, that he couldn’t. Because somewhere deep down he felt like he was almost meant for it.

“Love is pain, Gansey boy.” he whispered turning to the side, trying to ease the tension without butting in.

Gansey didn’t respond, he just shook his head and left.

Henry didn't need to ask to know he was looking for Blue, so he just kept going around the store, slowly, purposefully giving them time to talk the stupidest argument ever conceived down. By the time he reached the cashier desk, they had already made things up, in a way or another. He didn't need to ask that either, judging by how they were entangled, Blue sitting down, limbs lovingly wrapped around Gansey as they just stared and whispered at each other. It was such a sweet sight, Henry couldn't help by smiling a little. He liked love a whole lot, for someone who wasn't really used to getting it. He liked it even more when it involved the two people he cared the most about.

He just wished it didn’t also have to be heartbreaking.

\---

The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful, which shouldn’t really be a surprise, considering it lasted only three hours, but it was, considering literally everyone involved in the trip.

This, of course, didn’t mean that there was no bickering, shouting or fighting over songs involved, just that it was light, playful, a place for laughter and side smiles and horrible car games that always became annoying fast but not enough to cancel out how hilarious they also were. 

Henry saw himself as a pretty objective and composed individual, but that didn't stop him from considering every detail a piece of heaven. Every small burst of laughter shot right through his heart with warmth, every aggressive passing of water bottles to survive the heat felt like home, even Blue yelling while trying to carefully ease a mosquito out of the window without hurting it or Gansey politely arguing with the GPS perfectly fit in.

In his habit of mechanically putting aside his own feelings toward every situation for the sake of making everything run smoothly, he was even able to bravely stomach tender looks exchanged in the front seats and fingers silently intertwining over the stick shift, wearing the clothes and skin of someone who didn’t feel his best friend’s overwhelming love pinpricking his stomach but was able to just enjoy the way it tickled his ribcage. It was fine, things always itched a little when they were about him.

Regardless of how good he was at pretending, stepping out of the car to finally breathe in the fresh air was a relief. He looked around, slowly, letting his sight loose in the charming colors of an unknown town and the sun set over his skin, enjoying the relief for the moment it lasted, before the warmth started to sting. He sighed, throwing his head back in dramatic resignation that also doubled as a wonderful way to kick off whatever remained of his heavy mood.

“I’m horribly famished, captain.” he whispered, letting himself half-flop over Blue, who sighed but still held him in what one could only describe as tender exhaustion.

Gansey chuckled, wiping sweat off his temple with the back of his hand, a movement so simple that somehow managed to look incredibly regal, if he did it. He took out his phone and adorably furrowed his eyebrows in an attempt to look up something on the screen, which had to be nothing short of impossible, considering how bright it still was. The fact that he looked adorable like that was horribly upsetting, so letting out a choked out whine felt pretty fair.

“It says the diner is supposed to be here.” Gansey whispered, looking at his cellphone like it had just done something unforgivable.

Blue raised an eyebrow, still holding him in her arms like she had forgotten he was there, regardless of the heat and not very mild discomfort of skin sticking to skin, which was either a small miracle or proof of the fact Blue himself was one. 

“What do you mean by here?”

“Well. Here.” he insisted, like it was supposed to mean something, as the three of them stared at a supermarket, an antique store and the ugly but most charming souvenir shop he had ever seen. 

"I guess you planned on eating Texas-shaped magnets for dinner." she pointed out, the sarcastic edge of her voice too familiar and _hers_ to help him from feeling it in his chest.

“I see. Tonight we feast like kings.” Henry felt the need to comment, feeling like he had won something when Blue pocketed her frown just for one moment, enough to crack a smile.

“It could be worse. At least it’s not Florida magnets.” Gansey calmly pointed out, the corner of his mouth so charmingly tilted upwards that it should have been illegal.

It was so nice. Everything about it, the unbearable sun, Gansey's scrunched up eyelashes battling the light, the sweet scent coming from Blue's neck. In moments like those, Henry remembered what the point of that was, how beautiful and heartwarming it could be, in the smallest bits, as long as it was them.

He let his head flop further, going over Blue's shoulder to look at the street across from there, where a cheap and obnoxiously armadillo-themed diner stood, a spectacle of horror and glory. Henry thought about the three of them, academical Gansey, quick-witted Blue, himself with what felt was a pretty good practical sense, none of them able to look at the opposite side of the road. Maybe the long ride and the heat wasn't doing their wits any favors. Or maybe it wasn't very smart of them to think they could survive that kind of trip.

He couldn’t refrain from laughing a bit, which immediately caught the girl’s attention. She didn’t look particularly amused.

“What’s so funny?”

“Just turn around.”

Blue waited for him to stand back up, then looked to the other side. Her expression twisted into well-justified horror, something too exaggerate and hilarious not to prompt Gansey to check out the sight himself, joining with a very concerned squinting old man face.

“Oh good grace.” he whispered, very shocked by his own ability to be blindsided.

"I don't think we can be friends anymore after this." Blue whispered back, before sprinting toward the entrance in a well-justified need to run away from how vibrantly dumb all of them could be.

They both ran after her, laughing along the way, Gansey holding his chest in a way that made Henry’s tighten a bit, but it was okay.

It was eerily perfect, the way they all settled in a booth, smoothly picking their seats even if they weren't used to sit into a group of three but many more. It was like the three of them formed something by themselves, and they could pretend like they weren't and that trip was nothing more than a coincidence, but they all had to know somehow. 

Henry didn’t dwell on it too much, focusing more on getting his order together and then uniting with Blue to both force Gansey to take the order and fetch a waitress.

He placed both elbows on the table, watching Blue sitting across from him with his chin on his hands. She was biting the skin of her thumb, meticulously going around the nail in a way that could only display uneasiness, staring at something far into the diner. He followed her gaze, believing it would land on Gansey. But it was on the kitchen.

“Hungry, my child?”

“A bit.”

She sounded sincere, but the way she kept swallowing told something by itself. It took him a minute before he got there, but then he really couldn’t refrain from slipping into a sharp smile.

“You’re thirsty.”

Blue suddenly stopped to look at him. He had guessed right. 

Henry clicked his tongue, smiling some more.

“You are. The old man was right, those peanuts did you dirty.” he whispered, leaning closer toward her.

She sighed noisily and furrowed her brows.

"Please shut up." she whispered, more in anger then pleading.

Henry just raised both hands.

“Don’t worry, I won’t let him win.” 

“I don’t care about it. It’s just not true.”

The face Blue made, furrowing her brows, her mouth just slightly puckering up in the sweetest, loveliest frown he’d ever seen, just made his heart melt. He reached closer and gently tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, trying not to look as in love as he felt.

She was just too much, too much attitude, too much sugary goodness, too much hair and lovely eyes and smart and funny comebacks. It always got to him.

“It’s fine, I swear I won’t tell that you care either.” he whispered, slowly drawing his hand back.

She just shrugged, but something in her eyes spoke loudly about how pleased she was. Maybe the corner of her mouth too.

“Let's unionize. Stick it to the man.”

“It sounds _so bad_ if it’s you saying it. It loses all value.”

“Slandery. I bring nothing but beauty in everything I do.” 

Blue smiled, looking into his eyes, trying not to fall into a laugh but it was too late. He had seen the intention of it, and that was enough. For just one moment, Henry felt something pass between them, sweet and warm and strong, enough that it should have tasted incredibly wrong. Yet, neither backed out.

“Sure you do.”

\---

“So,” Gansey began, one hour and a half into the last segment of the trip for the day, his voice low in the warm darkness of the road “how’s that for a first day?”

They had been silent for most of the ride, enjoying the company and the calm after a day filled with noise and distractions of all sorts. Henry turned to look at Blue, quietly sleeping in the back seat, her head on a ball of jackets and her limbs loose in all weird kinds of positions, someone used to feeling safe, comfortable, even in a car in the middle of the road. He loved that about her too, how fearless she was in the small things, how everything about her screamed of a deeper, different kind of power.

He smiled, before facing Gansey again. He had taken off his contacts in a complicated sequence of movements, containers and disinfectant wipes in the last horrifying bathroom they had been able to visit and it was kind of startling, how different he looked with his glasses, now settling in the private dimension of the car. His expression was looser, his eyes pensive in a different way, something unfamiliar that made him look both younger and burdened with impossibly big thoughts. The lights barely lit up his profile, but it was enough for Henry to see, to know that seeing this version of him only meant sliding deeper in the ocean of his own feelings.

He tried shaking off at least some of it with a shrug, but didn’t force himself to look as bright and crisp as daytime Henry did. That moment was special, it was for letting their guard down.

"Definitely way less screaming than anticipated. And no murder, which is a bit of a letdown, but what can you do?" he whispered, incapable to stop himself from smiling, when he saw a dimple on Gansey's cheek accentuated by a short laugh.

“I will do everything in my power to ensure plenty of murder for tomorrow.”

“A true gentleman.”

“What can I say. I’m an old soul and a romantic at heart.”

Henry shook his head, helpless in his attempt to avoid laughing and even more helpless in his attempt to refrain himself from falling even harder in love with him. 

Nighttime Gansey was definitely going to be a problem, if that was how light and lovely he could be. 

He decided to focus his attention everywhere but oh his face, so he looked at his hands, his arm, the relaxed but not careless pose he had assumed. Henry didn't love cars, even though he enjoyed how fast, sleek and flashy they could be, but something about Gansey behind the wheel was too much for him to handle anyway.

“I’m driving tomorrow.” 

It wasn’t related to how hard it was to witness any or both of them existing in the car without a distraction, but it also absolutely was.

Gansey looked surprised for a moment, still staring at the road, his brows then furrowing in an expression that he couldn’t read, something that he had never seen. Then he turned, showing him a smile that felt delicate and warm. For a moment, as they passed a streetlight, it looked almost uneasy.

“If you want.” he whispered, and it felt hot and tight in his chest, like he was letting him step in a secluded part of himself by touching something special, something he loved so violently.

His voice carried the weight of exactly how important that was, regardless of how tiny his words were.

Henry just nodded, refraining himself from patting his arm, jokingly leaning on his shoulder, anything small that in the warmth of his feelings brought the risk of catching fire. Yet he didn't stop staring, his face only half tilted towards him, his smile subtle but still there, his eyes looking at him, then at the road, then at him again. 

He wanted to hold is hand. More than he wanted to kiss him or tell the truth or wake up Blue and drag the both of them in the mess that was his feelings, right at that moment, he wanted to hold his hand. It would have been enough, he thought, just that, just their fingers warm and sweaty and intertwined, to make it real, to give life and form at what Henry felt and sometimes saw in Gansey's eyes, but had no place there.

But there were many things that he wanted, right there and then, none of which he could have, so he did what he did best and just settled for nothing.

“Fantastic.”

“Only if you’re careful.”

“I always am.”

**Author's Note:**

> I can't believe I finally managed to defeat my art block. of course, this only could happen because of a project I share with people I care about. this was a sudden idea, but one we were very fond of and I'm very happy of how this first part has turned out, probably because everything is better and easier if you do it with people you love.  
> I'm going without a beta again, so please forgive me if there were mistakes along the way I didn't catch, english still isn't my native language and I'm doing my best.  
> don't forget to checkout gigia's [art](https://shamanda-lie.tumblr.com/post/614136639462227968/road-to-sarchengsey-pt-1-a-project-in) and michelle's [edits](https://clawsnbeak.tumblr.com/post/614136689339875328/how-to-fall-in-love-with-your-best-friends-without), this is a project the three of us are doing together and everything is part of the story!
> 
> thank you for reading, kudos and comments are always welcome.  
> see you soon!


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